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Seeking advice: Things To Consider in Preparation for a Cross-Country Move

Pack up what you really need to take and the sentimental stuff. Have an open house/estate sale and give away to a charity for a write-off and dump whatever is left over.

Buy new, it's such a refreshing feeling to have new things in a new place and only purchased as you need them, not just stored somewhere until you unbox them, if you ever "need" them.
 
I’ve moved coast to coast twice. Once did it lean and then brought way more stuff the next time.

I’m going to go opposite of everyone else here and say that you should keep things. Things like welder, car jacks/lifts/jack stands etc all suck to move but equally as shitty is buying it all again when you get there. You have a lot more money in tools than you think you do. It will cost a lot of time/money to replace. I’m not talking bring your Bridgeport but I did bring my work bench because the time and money I had into the thing when you factor the vice in was pretty high. I regret selling my zero turn mower, between selling the old one and buying the new one I probably was negative $2000ish out of pocket.

However I would also say this garage stuff is the heaviest of things you’ll be bringing so once this stuff is planned the rest is just really bulky. Get the large ABF trailer and be good at packing.

Furniture and stuff like that is where I say you throw out the most. Your wife won’t want the old stuff in the new space anyway and you’re not going to stop her from buying new stuff. Mattresses that you don’t really like or use anymore like the one in the spare bedroom take up a lot of space as do the frames. Now is the time to dump if you want new stuff. Nothing feels dumber than lugging a couch all the way across the country and realizing it doesn’t fit or look right in the new spot in your new home so it goes to the dump.

As for doing the whole “live like a local” thing…. Screw you guys….I’ll always want a basement! The joke here being that Carolina’s have lots of crawl spaces so remember you’ll lose that space if it’s always been something you had prior

Edit: I found it funny that sometimes you can “smell” your old place on your old stuff when it gets to the new place.
 
Start a yard sale now..
Buddy stayed at a motel with a uhal trailer, they took the trailer..
 
I did a cross country move from New Jersey (yeah it sucks) to Utah. Shipped the two Jeeps for a little over 1K. I used Old Dominion LTL for everything else. I gave a ton of stuff away or donated it.

This was a really easy stress free move. I packed the trailer myself. OD partitioned and sealed my belongings (take picture of seal). I locked the partition with my pad locks. Everything arrived just as I had packed it. No hassles.

This was so much cheeper then driving the stuff out. So little stress in flying. :smokin::smokin::smokin:
 
A friend of mine tells this joke:
When moving get two trailers. One to pack with stuff you’re keeping and one for the dump. Fill them up and take both to the dump.

I’m going to have to really consider never moving again just because of the shop. I moved most of the stuff in there now one pu load at a time from the old shop. Lost count of the number and now I’ve probably doubled the amount of tools/benches/storage/consumables I had then.
The house stuff can all get tossed except the keepsakes and guns. I still have boxes unpacked from my last move 7 years ago. :homer:
 
Buddy of mine packed up a seacan with everything except one suitcase each per family member in a family of 5, to move cross country. Never saw it again. Zero turn mower, dirtbikes, generator, family photos, family heirlooms, clothing, bedding, tools...the works.

Moving company offered to pay out somewhere a little over $120,000. They started to mentally inventory the house drawer by drawer and stopped at $450,000. All your clothes, electronics, housewares...it adds up quick.:mad3:

They did get paid out around $200 something grand eventually, but it was a huge hassle.

The issue was that it was a cascade of subcontractors and the final guys disappeared along with the seacan.
 
Put the screeching bitch and whiny little shit on an airplane and tow the stuff yourself in peace. Even BDLing at 55 you'll make better time than you would keeping up with traffic with a wife and kid.
 
I moved everything across the country 2 years ago in a 12x7 enclosed trailer. Left behind way more than I brought and don’t regret any of it.

Fly out and line up a rental house for at least 6 mo. Don’t buy right away

On your drive across country don’t eat at any chain restaurants. See some sights but don’t drag it out too long

Visit the location as a family in summer and winter before you commit

Most importantly, commit. Do it. Was one of my best life decisions to date. So many miserably talk about it and “dream” of it but just keep complaining about why they “cant”.
 
beings that the PNW is full of people that were fleeing CA years ago.
You can't move to a new area, and vote the same way, turn it into what your ran from and be surprised it is the same shit
embrace the new that is what you came for

I would also make a vacation with the family and get a adventure out of it, it may now be the one you planned, but it will make some memories.

and as stated, moving and purge the house go together

good luck! Got a place in mind?
 
BigBurt said:
I’ve moved coast to coast twice. Once did it lean and then brought way more stuff the next time.

I’m going to go opposite of everyone else here and say that you should keep things. Things like welder, car jacks/lifts/jack stands etc all suck to move but equally as shitty is buying it all again when you get there. You have a lot more money in tools than you think you do. It will cost a lot of time/money to replace. I’m not talking bring your Bridgeport but I did bring my work bench because the time and money I had into the thing when you factor the vice in was pretty high. I regret selling my zero turn mower, between selling the old one and buying the new one I probably was negative $2000ish out of pocket.

However I would also say this garage stuff is the heaviest of things you’ll be bringing so once this stuff is planned the rest is just really bulky. Get the large ABF trailer and be good at packing.

Furniture and stuff like that is where I say you throw out the most. Your wife won’t want the old stuff in the new space anyway and you’re not going to stop her from buying new stuff. Mattresses that you don’t really like or use anymore like the one in the spare bedroom take up a lot of space as do the frames. Now is the time to dump if you want new stuff. Nothing feels dumber than lugging a couch all the way across the country and realizing it doesn’t fit or look right in the new spot in your new home so it goes to the dump.

As for doing the whole “live like a local” thing…. Screw you guys….I’ll always want a basement! The joke here being that Carolina’s have lots of crawl spaces so remember you’ll lose that space if it’s always been something you had prior

Edit: I found it funny that sometimes you can “smell” your old place on your old stuff when it gets to the new place.
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Well yea, man. Don't dump the tools. Figured that was obvious.
 
Did this 3yrs ago. Took 6 trips back and forth over about 3 weeks. Wife and friends loading trailers as I was hauling the last one.


For furniture we took our bed (sleep number) but none of the others. Took all antiques, and that was it. Sold the rest.


Sold all appliances except the upright freezer full of meat.

Took 2 stock trailers loaded way past weight for just my tools. :laughing:

One load was just my 79 with the bed full of stuff.

To say I was tired at the end would be an understatement. :lmao:


It was a feat but we pulled it off. Don't want to do it again though. :flipoff2:
 
Sceep said:
The dumpster should be larger and more full than the U-haul.
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A lot of this. I've only moved 40 miles away twice and the first time, I filled apartment dumber 1/4 full three times before I finally moved. I'll ignore the numerous trips to Salvation Army to donate stuff. (900 square foot to 700 square foot house) My second move looked similar... I got rid of larger furniture.

Furniture and large appliances are the biggest move cost killer that you might break even on between selling/trashing vs hauling.

As someone else mentioned, I've still got stuff 'packed' from six years ago.:homer:
 
Squamch said:
Buddy of mine packed up a seacan with everything except one suitcase each per family member in a family of 5, to move cross country. Never saw it again. Zero turn mower, dirtbikes, generator, family photos, family heirlooms, clothing, bedding, tools...the works.

Moving company offered to pay out somewhere a little over $120,000. They started to mentally inventory the house drawer by drawer and stopped at $450,000. All your clothes, electronics, housewares...it adds up quick.:mad3:

They did get paid out around $200 something grand eventually, but it was a huge hassle.

The issue was that it was a cascade of subcontractors and the final guys disappeared along with the seacan.
Click to expand...

I can’t imagine
 
Ummduh said:
Well yea, man. Don't dump the tools. Figured that was obvious.
Click to expand...
I left my super shitty "work bench" that'd I've moved several times.

Still kick myself for not strapping it to the roof :laughing: replacements are way over priced, even just the same raw materials. Been doing lots of work on the floor since
 
I'm pretty sure I read on here that when moving you want to get two trailers, one for the stuff you're moving and one to go to the dump, when they're full, take them both to the dump. After moving short distance last year I'd agree.

For a cross-country deal I'd be tempted to buy my own shitty box truck and sell it when I got where I was going, that way you can pack at your own pace and know what you're driving. The last u-haul I used was the nicest one I've ever been in and it was still a POS.
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
beings that the PNW is full of people that were fleeing CA years ago.
You can't move to a new area, and vote the same way, turn it into what your ran from and be surprised it is the same shit
embrace the new that is what you came for
Click to expand...
I vote the same way I did where I came from and it hasn’t changed shit in this f’ed up state (WA). I also voted the same way when I lived in Portland, and it didn’t change anything there either. I moved here from Southern Idaho. I was also helping the wife chase her dream, so I didn’t really have any expectations that things would be better.
 
cervelorod said:
I vote the same way I did where I came from and it hasn’t changed shit in this f’ed up state (WA). I also voted the same way when I lived in Portland, and it didn’t change anything there either. I moved here from Southern Idaho. I was also helping the wife chase her dream, so I didn’t really have any expectations that things would be better.
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You mean just cause you live somewhere you don't vote the way it goes there???!!! You gotta be kidding me. :lmao::flipoff2:
 
Provience said:
I left my super shitty "work bench" that'd I've moved several times.

Still kick myself for not strapping it to the roof :laughing: replacements are way over priced, even just the same raw materials. Been doing lots of work on the floor since
Click to expand...
I threw out two 5gallon buckets of random nuts, bolts and scrap metal pieces when moved and I still kick myself 4yrs later for doing that! The only thing I regret tossing in the move:laughing:
 
cervelorod said:
I vote the same way I did where I came from and it hasn’t changed shit in this f’ed up state (WA). I also voted the same way when I lived in Portland, and it didn’t change anything there either. I moved here from Southern Idaho. I was also helping the wife chase her dream, so I didn’t really have any expectations that things would be better.
Click to expand...
I started wearing a fedora and drinking decaf soy lattes with my pumpkin spice scone. lol!

I wish there were enough conservative voters to spread out like the locust liberals and move states rightward, but I fear we may have to fallback to a few states to escape them at some point.
 
DVanVorous said:
Have done a couple long distance moves.

Commercial mover...pricey and they packed it up. No the company didnt help pay, did I say it was pricey? Get the dumpster cause they charge by weight/volume

U pack it trailer. The charge by weight volume in the 2 instances I used this technique. Again get a dumpster...

Doing the Uhaul/Penske/Budget is stupid...trucks are in bad shape and I've had U Hauls break down necessitating repacking the truck into another truck on the road...we were NOT amused. Have used the trailers which also tend to be in sorta not good shape. Bent an axle on a car hauler while going thru Evanston when I-80 was torn up. Scouts are heavy buggers.
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I've worked on the yellow Penske moving trucks on the road when they break down. Seems like Penske takes care of their customers. Had one lady with a 26 foot truck and trailer towing her Jeep break down Saturday late afternoon due to diesel in the DEF tank, it wasn't her she had just picked it up and hadn't even refueled it yet. Penske got her a hotel room for the night and sent a truck and moving crew the next morning to transfer her belongings.

Another one the truck had derated west of Missoula and they towed it to Spokane and got there late Saturday. It was a bake the DPF code and I couldn't fix it and our dealer isn't open weekends. Penske sent another tow and towed it all the way to Seattle.

U haul on the other hand is not so good. I ended buying a 1988 26 foot U haul when I moved from N CA to N ID once I priced out one way rentals.
 
Slander said:
I threw out two 5gallon buckets of random nuts, bolts and scrap metal pieces when moved and I still kick myself 4yrs later for doing that! The only thing I regret tossing in the move:laughing:
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Every time I see someone giving shit like that away I jump on it. It's payed dividends over the years. :laughing:

TrikeKid said:
For a cross-country deal I'd be tempted to buy my own shitty box truck and sell it when I got where I was going, that way you can pack at your own pace and know what you're driving. The last u-haul I used was the nicest one I've ever been in and it was still a POS.
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I would buy a stupid big enclosed trailer before I bought a box truck. Way less shit to fuck off on an unknown quantity trailer than an unknown quantity box truck and what can fuck off is much more standardized and easy to find on the shelf.
 
Slander said:
I threw out two 5gallon buckets of random nuts, bolts and scrap metal pieces when moved and I still kick myself 4yrs later for doing that! The only thing I regret tossing in the move:laughing:
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I brought the bolt bin and some useable drops over 2’.

Stuff like cherry pickers and engine stands, leave behind. Takes up room and can be cheaply replaced used or at harbor freight.

Job boxes on casters work good for tools. They will keep stuff out of the weather if your rental is lacking garage space.

Buy an enclosed trailer for sure. It’ll double as a temp shop if you end up at a rental with no garage. This one moved all our shit and was my shop for almost a year. You can usually get your money back out of them too

IMG_6560.jpeg
 
I moved to NC from NY 4 years ago, Bought a enclosed trailer new and moved my stuff myself. It took 6 of so trips and the next to the last one was a problem. I had placed all my Milwaukee battery's in a tool box drawer. That was a mistake. If you move yourself, Make sure your insurance covers EVERYTHING including the trailer and tow vehicle
 

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